May 30, 2012

April 08, 2015

December 17, 2014

Editor's note: This story has been corrected.

Three groups chosen to design proposals for a Criminal Justice Center on the former General Motors stamping plant site west of downtown Indianapolis will have until the end of June to submit their comments on the project, a city official said Friday. Development proposals are due in the fall.

Indianapolis Director of Enterprise Development David Rosenberg told judges of the Marion Superior Executive Committee the city sent out draft requests for proposals last week.

The project envisions a complex costing several hundred million dollars that would combine new facilities for the Marion County Jail, Marion Superior criminal courts and various other court functions.

Judges asked if there were any environmental remediation concerns regarding the former industrial site, and Rosenberg said the RACER Trust, which owns the property, is responsible for any remediation needed to return the property to use.

Rosenberg explained the successful developer will purchase the property from the independent trust that owns the property as the result of GM’s bankruptcy. The trust has an obligation to sell GM’s legacy properties at prices that approximate fair market value.

The successful bidder would arrange financing for the land purchase and construction, and the city would sign a long-term lease for the facility under the plan championed by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and Marion County Sheriff John Layton.

The chosen development team also would acquire the balance of the 110-acre site on the west bank of White River south of Washington Street. The Criminal Justice Complex is planned to occupy only about one-third of the western portion of the site.

Officials have said savings realized by eliminating inefficiencies and office rent would fund the project and that no tax increase would be required.

According to the city’s timeline, a favored proposal will be chosen and introduced to the City-County Council in September.

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Dave Stafford joined the staff of the Indiana Lawyer as a reporter in May 2012 and was named editor in October 2017. An award-winning print journalist for more than 30 years, Stafford has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers including the Herald Bulletin in Anderson, Indiana, the News-Journal in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Virginia. He and his wife, Denise, live in their hometown, Indianapolis.